


The Ride Out

by LadyAshlaLordBogen



Series: Estel Elrondiel [14]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/F, Gen, Journey, Transition piece, slow and steady wins the race
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 08:35:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14185053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAshlaLordBogen/pseuds/LadyAshlaLordBogen
Summary: Finally, they were on their way to Ithilien.  Now if only their arguments could be solved so easily.





	The Ride Out

**Author's Note:**

> This one was like pulling teeth. It would not write itself. I am never going to complain about a character taking over a piece again.  
> Ithilien 5

Estel quickly walked towards the city gates, trusting Mirial to have her pack and horse waiting for her.  Two copper-red haired armored ellyn were waiting at the Keep’s door. “Uncle Amras, Uncle Amrod, it’s good to see you.  Ready to go?”

The elder twin, Amras nodded, “I think we are, _Russa,_ yes.”  The Ambarussa were the only ones to call her “Copper.”  They wouldn’t explain _why_ either, which drove Estel _mad._   She was curious, and her uncles would simply smile and say, “You’ll understand when you’re older pitya.”  The others were no help, the older Fëanorians would simply smile and Uncle Telpe, Uncle Erestor, and Uncle Lindir were as clueless as she was.  “Let’s head out then.”  Estel led the way to the city gates, her uncles following behind.  She could feel their disapproving looks boring holes through the back of her head.  Eventually, she got tired of it and snapped “If you’re going to say something, say it.  Otherwise keep the hostility to yourselves until we’re in private.”

“You’re in a good mood.” Amrod this time.  “We just wish you would be more careful, little one.  You aren’t invulnerable and making careless mistakes won’t help your life expectancy.  I already lost my wife and child to my cockiness and arrogance.  Do not ask me to lose my great-niece as well.  You forced us to realize that time is a precious commodity and we had to become more interested in the Realms of Men after we conquered them.  It would be devastating to us.  Telpe disagreed with this particular punishment because we forced him to move back home from Ost-in-Edhil, while Cano took over the daily functioning of the city after Nelya recognized Annatar for who he was.  I’m fairly certain he went over all of our knees at least once before Curvo and Nelya allowed him to go back.  Even then, Curvo, Amras, and I went with him.  It was quite some time before he was trusted to be alone again.”

“We don’t want to lose you either Estel.  We’re doing this because we care.  If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have reacted to the attempt in any way.”

“So, stop being a brat and let us smother you for a while.  Nelya mentioned that you had a bad feeling about this, so consider us to be extra back-up.”

“I’ll do my best, Uncles Ambarussa.”

The group reached the gates, where Mirial, Cody and Quinn were waiting.  Mirial had an extra pack and all three were leading two horses.  Estel recognized three immediately.  The roan mare was Amrod’s, Queillënár (Q-Fading Fire). The white stallion was Amras’, Rasilmë (Q-Storm light). The gray stallion was her own Isilëo (Q-Moonshadow).  “How?  I was fully expecting to have to borrow one from the stables.”

“We weren’t going to borrow horses that we would have to bond with when there are perfectly good horses that we had in the stables.  Isilëo is irritated with you for even considering riding another horse.  He’s rather possessive, isn’t he?” Amras joked as he walked over to his stallion.

“Thank you, Uncle.  I can’t easily express how much this means”

“You have something of your home with you, even after we leave.”  Amrod was understanding.

The two ellyn mounted and rode out from the gates to give the four some privacy.

Mirial immediately opened the extra pack and started to help her attach weapons to her armor.  Soon enough, all that was left in the pack was the extra clothes that she brought.  Mirial, with a twinkle in her eye, showed Estel a hidden pouch in her armor where she could hide her extra clothes.  It was waterproof, and next to her skin, so it would stay warm and dry, no matter the circumstances.

“I’m sorry.  I should have paid more attention.”

“You should have let us in, so we could _help_!” Estel winced, Mirial was angry.

Cody nodded “She’s not wrong Ana.  We protect our own, you _know_ that.”  His tone was calm, which was a relief.  He was hard to anger and ever harder to earn forgiveness from.

“And if we had known, we would have been more cautious.  I for one, fully agree with your father’s decision to send your uncles with us.  Were you not the one who said you had a bad feeling about this?”

Quinn, always the healer was attempting to soothe the group into realizing that this was the best way forward for all concerned parties.

“I know, Quinn.  It just feels like he doesn’t trust me.  I know it’s not the real reason, but that’s how it feels.”

The sound of low voices and hoof beats interrupted their conversation.  Estel’s look clearly expressed that they would talk later.  The four mounted up and waited for the rest to meet them.  The new additions raised some curious eyebrows hidden behind helmets, but nothing was said.

“Hello everyone.  Ready to go?”

“Beta reporting ready”

“Charlie reporting ready”

“Delta reporting ready”

Estel nodded and led the group out of the gates.  She, technically, had senior command over the CG.  Alpha were officially second lieutenants, Charlie were Sergeants, Beta were Corporals, and Delta were Privates. Unofficially, they didn’t follow the typical conventions or chain of command.  All members could take command in their area of expertise.  Overall though, the CG looked to Alpha to deal with disputes and paperwork.

The group rode out in a loose formation, Estel and her uncles in front, Mirial, Quinn, and Cody flanking them.  Delta created an outer perimeter, Beta acting as go-betweens and Charlie forming an inner perimeter.

“You created a good formation.  It’s balanced between the need to travel quickly and defensive countermeasures.  Whose idea was it? It feels familiar somehow.” Amras commented.

“Look closer, Uncle.  Imagine the formation with fewer riders.”

A startled gasp as Amrod realized “This is based on one of our tactics.  Estel?”

“I fully blame Mirial for this one.  I was talking about some of the stories you’ve told me, and she suggested we use some of the tactics and ideas.”

Mirial chimed in from her black stallion, Noblefire.  “From there, we simply drew up how it would look with double the riders.  Hugtos willing, it will keep us alive until we can draw weapons.”

“Hugtos, love?”

“God of war and strategy.”

Estel nodded.  The Valar weren’t known here.  She was still learning the names of these gods.  The rest of the journey was fairly quiet, with quiet conversations happening throughout the group.  The squads switched positions every three hours.  Alpha went to the outer perimeter, Charlie became the center, Beta the messengers and Delta the inner perimeter.  They rode out for hours until they were about halfway between Minas Tirith and Ithilien before stopping for the night.

Delta offered to take first watch, with Rhys, her fellow Dúnadan, saying that her squad needed to talk together.  Estel nodded gratefully before ordering them to switch with Alpha in a few hours.

Mirial, Cody, and Quinn were waiting for her, having set up their tent while Estel was talking to Rhys. 

“Ana, we need to know what else happened and what else could happen if you are recognized.” Cody was worried about her, she realized.

“It will be hard for anyone outside of the Elvish Realms to recognize me.  I hadn’t been in a human settlement from the time I was 6 months old to the time I was 13.  I am unsure what this was about.  Yes, I am my father’s daughter, but I have not made that well known, and the surname I use is not specific.”

“I get that it was unexpected for an attempt on your life Ana, but is it not likely if not expected that someone would have found out about your family connections?”  Quinn, this time.

“Not even all of the Northerners-none of the Bree-landers- know who I am.  The Dúnedain who are here know who I am, but that is simply because of my time with them.  I would think that the attempt would be more likely to come from one of the Steward’s enemies than from anything to do with me personally.”

“Are you certain?” Mirial

“No, which is why I’m being cautious. It is unlikely at best that I am the direct reason behind this one at least.”

“Fine.  I’m still irritated with you, but that’s because you scared the life out of me.  I would rather not lose you.”

“I know Mirial.  I truly am sorry guys.”

“We know you are.  Please don’t scare us like that again.” Quinn pleaded.

“I will do my best.” Estel promised.

The night was long, especially with having watch shifts to handle.  Eventually though, the dawn came, and the group reached the Ithilien-Harad border.  The hard work would begin now.

 


End file.
